Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) on Tuesday slammed President Trump over the recent immigration protests in Los Angeles, saying the president “wanted this fight.”
“He wanted to focus on immigration and crime enforcement to distract attention away from the problems that his reconciliation bill is [having],” Smith told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “The Lead.”
“You know, the bill that’s going to knock like 12 million people off of health care and balloon the deficit by $2.5 trillion,” he added. “I think President Trump wanted this fight, and I think he picked it.”
Both California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass have clashed with the president over his recent intervention amid immigration protests in the Los Angeles area.
Bass slammed Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops in her city as a “chaotic escalation” in a Sunday message to Los Angeles residents.
“What we’re seeing in our city is chaos provoked by the Trump Administration,” Bass said in her message.
“When you raid Home Depots and workplaces, when you tear parents and children apart, and when you run armored caravans through our streets, you cause fear and panic,” she added. “And deployment of federalized troops on the heels of raids is a chaotic escalation.”
Newsom has been firing off posts on the social platform X, taking swings against Trump and his administration in recent days.
The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
